246 ELEPHANT-HUNTING [ch. x 



elephant paths led up hill and down— for the beasts are 

 wonderful climbers — and wound in and out in every 

 direction. They were marked by broken branches and 

 the splintered and shattered trunks of the smaller trees, 

 especially where the elephant had stood and fed, 

 trampling down the bushes for many yards around. 

 Where they had crossed the marshy valleys they had 

 punched big round holes, three feet deep, in the 

 sticky mud. 



As evening fell we pitched camp by the side of a 

 little brook at the bottom of a ravine, and dined 

 ravenously on bread, mutton, and tea. The air was 

 keen, and under our blankets we slept in comfort until 

 dawn. Breakfast was soon over and camp struck ; and 

 once moi'e we began our cautious progress through the 

 dim, cool archways of the mountain forest. 



Two hours after leaving camp we came across the 

 fresh trail of a small herd of perhaps ten or fifteen 

 elephant cows and calves, but including two big herd 

 bulls. At once we took up the trail. Cuninghame 

 and his bush people consulted again and again, scan- 

 ning every track and mark with minute attention. 

 The sign showed that the elephants had fed in the 

 shambas early in the night, had then returned to the 

 mountain, and stood in one place resting for several 

 hours, and had left this sleeping ground some time 

 before we reached it. After we had followed the trail 

 a short while we made the experiment of trying to 

 force our own way through the jimgle, so as to get the 

 wind more favourable : but our progress was too slow 

 and noisy, and we returned to the path the elephants 

 had beaten. Then the 'Ndorobo went ahead, travelling 

 noiselessly and at speed. One of them was clad in a 

 white blanket and another in a red one, which were 



